Man sued for sharing cheap flight loophole

United Airlines is taking legal action against a 22-year-old traveller who uncovered a novel way to find cheaper flights and shared it online

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Aktarer Zaman founded the website Skiplagged.com in 2013. It helps travellers book flights using what it calls hidden city ticketing . The idea is that travellers wanting to fly from Dallas to Los Angeles, for example, are instructed to book a flight to an alternative destination, say San Francisco, with a stopover in Los Angeles. They then don t bother to take the last leg of their journey.

While it is not always the cheapest way to travel, Mr Zaman discovered that in many instances, it is. Airlines will often offer cut-price fares to attract fliers to regional airports but they sometimes route these flights through major hubs.

The strategy only works for those booking a one-way flight and travelling with carry-on luggage (hold luggage will automatically be sent to the final destination on the ticket).

But United, and the US-based flight booking website Orbitz, have claimed the entrepreneur s unfair website promotes strictly prohibited travel and is seeking $75,000 in compensation for loss of revenue.

Mr Zaman, a New York resident, insists that he has broken no law and is simply exposing an inefficiency in airline prices that has been common knowledge among aviation insiders for years.